Composer Matthew Hindson. Image courtesy Matthew Hindson.
The award-winning composer hopes Resonance, which will debut at the highly anticipated SYNAESTHESIA+, will reflect the physicality of the building of the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).
‘It’s not a normal orchestral commission that a composer would get in a concert hall. There are physical attributes that I’ll taking on board in the course of this piece, which are definitely not for the concert commission,’ Hindson said of his first SYNAESTHESIA+ commission, which will open the festival on Saturday 16 August.
The work will be a new adventure both for audiences and for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO), which has partnered with MONA for the immersive event.
‘Players won’t be able to hear or see each other. They’ll perhaps be able to hear echo throughout, and it’s going to be quite a blur. That’s where the idea of Resonance comes from, because it really is a resonant space.
The sound will be travelling throughout the building, different sounds coming from different instrumental family and groups. Depending on where you’re standing in the building, you’ll get a substantially different concept of what the piece actually is,’ he said.
‘I’m hoping that festival attendees will be stimulated, they will be moved by the music, it will be thought provoking and inspirational. I’m pretty sure we’re going to get all of that at this festival,’
Hindson said that SYNAESTHESIA+ would capture the experience of synaesthesia in creative ways and would be a fantastic opportunity to hear a lot of different types of music alongside each other.
‘It seems to be a perfect musical expression of the characteristics of MONA full stop. I can’t think of another festival that works so well in terms of the programming and the planning.’
While he has never experienced synaesthesia himself, Hindson said that sound and colour have always shared a strong relationship within his compositions. ‘Sound is intimately associated with colour anyway, because we have the “colours”’ of the sound.‘The connection between space is perhaps the closest I can come to imagining what synaesthesia is like. The audience experience of hearing different sounds in different spaces is perhaps coming closest to what is replicating what that is like.’
‘In the piece, the big brass chords have a certain sound quality, a colour if you like. The palate that I’m working with, with the orchestra, there’s so much colour that’s been done with the orchestra and yet there’s still so much more that makes it very exciting.’
SYNAESTHESIA+ is a total saturation of senses, with music, art, and stupendous feasts created by MONA’s decorated chefs; guests will consume a visual gastronomic experience.
The festival will be held at the Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, on Saturday 16 August and Sunday 17 August, 2014.
For bookings and further information visit the MONA website.
